Development of a Rigidity and Volume Control Module Using a Balloon Filled with Dilatant Fluid

In this paper, a rigidity and volume-changing device is proposed for presenting the shape and rigidity of a virtual object in the real world. This device comprises a balloon filled with a dilatant fluid and two syringes connected to electric linear actuators. The electric linear actuators enables controlling the volume of the balloon by allowing the user to change the amount of dilatant fluid in the balloon. Moreover, when the amount of fluid (water) contained in the balloon changes, the rigidity of the balloon changes in proportion to the composition of the fluid (ratio of the amount of water and starch). In this study, a prototype system was developed, and the performance of the system was evaluated by measuring the rigidity of the balloon at different volumes.